Pam Burton won the Republican nomination for county auditor, the position that oversees county spending on salaries and utility bills and handles homestead deductions on property taxes.

Burton won with 58 percent of the vote, and Jason Miller earned 42 percent.

A Democrat or independent candidate could file to challenge the primary winner in the fall election.

The candidate who wins the fall election will replace Jan Richhart, who has served in the position for about nine years and cannot run for re-election due to term limits.

The county auditor oversees county finances, serves as secretary to the county council and commissioners and ensures county bills are paid, budgets are followed and fraudulent homestead back taxes are collected. The job has a four-year term and pays an annual salary of $52,696.

Both Burton and Miller are county employees, and neither previously ran for an elected position.

Burton has worked in the auditor’s office for 21 years and is currently the deputy auditor. Her job responsibilities include paying most of the county’s bills and monitoring taxes collected.

Miller said he has no plans to run for an elected office again. He campaigned hard, giving speeches and talking to residents in neighborhoods and doesn’t know if he could have done anything differently, he said.

“We did all we could do,” Miller said. “The voters spoke.”

Miller has worked for the county since starting as a custodian in 1996 and has managed the maintenance department for seven years. He also oversees his department’s annual budget of approximately $1 million. He’ll continue in his current job, he said.

“My next steps: Go pick signs up and get them out of the county,” he said.